By Michael Pittinger
LoCoSports Staff Writer
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Sterling (September 23, 2016) – Dominion High School had never beaten Loudoun Valley High School in the black-and-silver’s 13-year history, but that all changed on September 23, 2016 when the Titans beat the Vikings in their tenth all-time meeting by the score of 30-16.
“It’s a huge win for us,” Dominion head coach Karl Buckwalter said. “Especially since, we’ve never beaten Loudoun Valley in the school’s football history.”
The Titans’ offense got off to a rough start early in the first quarter when Vikings defensive back Josh Baird picked off the pass by Dominion senior quarterback Vashon McCants and returned it 35 yards to give Loudoun Valley the early 6-0 lead.
Later in the first quarter the Titans punt return team blocked the Vikings’ punt attempt, which was recovered by University of Virginia-Commit Tommy Christ for his second fumble recovery of the game, to give Dominion a short field.
“I don’t want to put it on individuals,” Buckwalter said. “The kids made plays when they had to.”
The Titans would take advantage of the short field early in the second quarter. McCants kept the ball and made defenders miss on his way to the end zone for an 18-yard touchdown run giving Dominion a 7-6 lead.
Loudoun Valley then scored ten unanswered points to give them a 16-7 lead with under four minutes to go in the first half.
However, the Titans made a late field goal to make it a 6-point game going in to halftime. The field goal by Ramon Blas would be the start of 23 straight points for Dominion.
Late in the third quarter McCants scored his second rushing touchdown of the game. The score gave the Titans a slim 1-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.
“It showed that we can play some football in the face of adversity,” Buckwalter said. “We came out with a nice second half.”
The Titians extended their 1-point lead to an 8-point lead when junior running back Alex Wertz found the end zone from five yards out early in the fourth quarter.
With just 62 seconds to play in the game, McCants found the end zone for his third score of the night to put the Titans up by 14 and seal their first victory in school history over Loudoun Valley.
“The kids came out and played together in the second half,” Buckwalter said. “We made some adjustments and found some success in the second half.”
The Vikings have a bye on September 30 before host hosting John Handley High School on October 7 in Purcellville.
The Titans will travel to South Riding to face the Eagles of Freedom High School on September 30.
Scoring:
1Q 11:09 LV Josh Baird 35-yard interception return TD (PAT failed)
2Q 10:53 D Vashon McCants 18-yard TD run (Blas PAT)
2Q 7:06 LV Cameron Hippler 27-yard FG
2Q 3:43 LV Nick Kallivokas 1-yard TD run (Hippler PAT)
2Q 1:07 D Ramon Blas 26-yard FG
3Q 1:07 D Vashon McCants 20-yard TD run (Blas PAT)
4Q 10:16 D Alex Wertz 5-yard TD run (Blas PAT)
4Q 1:02 D Vashon McCants 18-yard TD run (Blas PAT)
